''Sudar Oli'' ( ta, சுடர் ஒளி Cuṭar Oḷi) is a

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n daily

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

published by Mass Media Syndicate (Private) Limited, part of the Uthayan Group of Newspapers. It was founded in 2000 and is published from

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

. Its sister newspaper is the

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

based ''

Uthayan ''Uthayan'' ( ta, உதயன் Utayaṉ, en, Morning) is a Tamil language Sri Lankan daily newspaper published by New Uthayan Publication (Private) Limited, part of the Uthayan Group of Newspapers. It was founded in 1985 and is published from ...

''. The newspaper has been attacked several times, a number of its staff have been murdered by paramilitary groups and other forces, and it regularly receives threats.

History

''Sudar Oli'' was founded in Colombo on 10 September 2000 as a weekly newspaper. It became a daily newspaper on 29 October 2001. Nadesapillai Vithyatharan became the paper's editor in 2002. In July 2006 ''Sudar Oli'' and ''

Thinakkural ''Thinakkural'' is a Tamil newspaper published in Sri Lanka. It was founded by Pon Rajagobal, former editor of Virakesari in 1997. There have reported number of attempts to force the paper to stop its distribution in recent times. See also *List o ...

'' were forced to stop distribution in

Batticaloa District Batticaloa District ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு மாவட்டம் ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu Māvaṭṭam''; si, මඩකලපුව දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''maḍakalapūva distrikkaya'') is one of the 25 dist ...

and

Ampara District Ampara District ( ta, அம்பாறை மாவட்டம், translit=Ampāṟai Māvaṭṭam; si, අම්පාර දිස්ත්‍රික්කය, translit=Ampāra Distrikkaya) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the s ...

after receiving threatening phone calls allegedly from a government backed paramilitary headed by

Karuna Amman Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (''nom de guerre'': Colonel Karuna Amman; ta, விநாயகமூர்த்தி முரளிதரன், ''Vināyakamūrtti Muraḷitaraņ'', born 22 June 1966) is a Sri Lankan politician and former ...

. Both papers resumed distribution in the districts later but circulation had fallen. Editor N. Vithyatharan was arrested by the police without a warrant on 26 February 2009 as he attended a funeral in

Mount Lavinia Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia ( si, දෙහිවල-ගල්කිස්ස, translit=Dehivala-Galkissa; ta, தெஹிவளை-கல்கிசை, translit=Tehivaḷai-Kalkicai), population 245,974 (2012) is the largest suburb of the City of ...

without a warrant and allegedly beaten in custody. As international criticism of the arrest intensified the Sri Lankan government claimed Vithyatharan had been arrested in connections with the LTTE air raid on Colombo. Vithyatharan was released on 24 April 2009 after the Colombo Crimes Division informed the court that there was no evidence connecting him to the air raid. Vithyatharan alleged that he had been detained in order to prevent him highlighting the plight of the civilians in the Vanni.

Attacks

''Sudar Oli'' and its employees have been subject to numerous attacks: * News photographer Yathurshan Premachchandran was attacked by activists from the nationalist

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party and a former militant organization in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and anot ...

(JVP) party on 23 August 2005 as he covered a JVP demonstration in front of

Fort Railway Station Fort railway station is a major rail hub in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The station is served by Sri Lanka Railways, with many inter-city and commuter trains entering each day. Fort Station is the main rail gateway to central Colombo; it is the terminus ...

, Colombo. The JVP activists accused Premachchandran of being a member of the rebel

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

. * Two grenades were thrown into the advertising office of the ''Sudar Oli'' and ''Uthayan'' in

Wellawatte Wellawatta is a neighbourhood of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It lies immediately south of Bambalapitiya and is classified as zone 6 within the Colombo Municipal region. The town begins at the old Dutch canal just before the Savoy Cinema and extends so ...

, Colombo on 20 August 2005, but failed to explode. * Two grenades were thrown into the offices of the newspaper in

Grandpass Grandpass is a suburb in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is part of an area known as ''Colombo 14''. History During the Portuguese administration in Sri Lanka, the area was named Grande Passo. The name was anglicised during the British administration to ...

, Colombo on 29 August 2005, killing security guard David Selvaratnam and injuring three others. * Two parliamentary reporters were attacked as they waited for a bus on 30 August 2005. * Journalist

Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan (1970 – 24 January 2006), popularly known as SSR, was a journalist working for the Tamil language daily Sudar Oli. On 24 January 2006 during the ongoing Sri Lankan civil war, he was shot dead in the Eastern port city ...

(Sugitharajah) was shot dead in

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

near governor's secretariat on 24 January 2006. Sugirdharajan had provided photographic evidence to the media of the murder of five students by Sri Lankan security forces. The day before his death Sugirdharajan had written an article in the ''Sudar Oli'' exposing abuses committed by the

Eelam People's Democratic Party The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda. Background Douglas Devananda was one of the founding members of the Eelam Re ...

, a government backed paramilitary group, in the Trincomalee area.

References

External links

* {{Media of Sri Lanka Daily newspapers published in Sri Lanka Newspapers established in 2000 Tamil-language newspapers published in Sri Lanka Uthayan Group of Newspapers Mass media in Colombo